Bad Reviews

We have all been there. You are working hard on your business and a notification pops up.

“You have a new review from Brian”

You hold your breath and open the review. Usually you can count on it being 5 stars, but this particular review is 2 stars.

TWO STARS… dang.

While having a bad review isn’t the end of the world, it will affect your conversion rates on review sites so you can’t just let it sit there… you need to take action.

Here are three things you can do to minimize your chances of a bad review 

1. Call your customer or send preemptive emails before they have a chance to rate you.

All of our customers get an employee rating card. They can leave their rating card in a sealed envelope and my teams give us these cards at the end of the day. This usually gives us an idea how service went.

We also call all new customers to see how things went. Again, this gives us a chance to prevent and address any issues before they can be posted online.

Lastly, we send out the Launch27 emails. If all else fails and we are unable to reach the customer, they get the Launch27 email. The trick with these emails is that many customers think that by filling out these emails they are leaving an official review. When they are unhappy, they click the unhappy face and then are less likely to go and leave you a review on Yelp or Thumbtack  because they feel as though they have already reviewed you. 

2. If they have already left the review… we call them immediately

Don’t ever let a review just sit. I typically call or email the client immediately and see if there is anything I can do to remedy the issue. This may mean sending a team to do a reclean or offering a partial discount or just listening to the customer’s issues with empathy. Whatever I can do to lessen the chances that that review will be there permanently.

The more responsive you are, the more likely you are to impress them with your customer service and the more likely they are to remove the review.

Make sure whatever resolution you offer fits their frustration (if their whole home is still dirty don’t offer a discount on future service because they will never want to see you again… and will curse you).

3. If all else fails and you can’t remove the review, respond to it.

While you may not want to respond the second the review hits (because you may be annoyed or frustrated) you will want to address the review as soon and as objectively as possible.

Try to keep your opinion and snark out of it and answer their objections calmly. This will show other customers that you tried your best to resolve but unfortunately can’t make everyone happy.

Bad reviews happen and the only way we can change them is by addressing them immediately. Even if we can’t change them, a well thought out response will change the opinion of those reading them and still may sway them to book with you!